Driving Miss Daisy

1. Driving Miss Daisy Drama

4. Vocabulary • appalling: horrifying • competence: state of being capable • demolish: wreck • derivation: origin • dubiously: in a doubtful way

5. Vocabulary • perpetual: lasting forever • recoil: to draw back • reprisal: retaliation • sniping: attacking in a sly way • upholstery: fabric on furniture

6. Background • This drama, which takes place in the South between 1948 and 1973, is about a wealthy Jewish widow and the African-American chauffeur who works for her.

7. Reading a Screenplay • When you see the movie Driving Miss Daisy, you will understand where the action occurs just by watching. In the screenplay, changes in time and location are written. Each new scene is marked by a word or phrase in capital letters that tells where it takes place. Since the play spans many years, the year, if it has changed from the previous scene, is named next. Read all of the stage directions carefully so that you can keep track of when and where the action occurs.

8. Reading a Screenplay • When you listen to the movie, you will have no trouble understanding the dialect spoken by the actors. In the script, the author shows dialect by omitting letters and respelling words. If you come to dialect that seems confusing, try reading it aloud. • For example, Hoke says, “You doan’ mean! Oscar say you need a driver for yo’ family. What I be doin’? Read the lines aloud and you will “hear” the meaning

9. Element • Foil: is a character who provides a striking contrast to a main character. Foils help to draw attention to certain qualities in the main character.

10. Vocabulary • Idiom • What does “you’re a doodle” mean? P. 422 • You’re a silly person

11. Cultural Sidelight • Mah-jongg is an ancient Chinese game that is still played in many parts of the world. It is similar to rummy, except that 136 or 144 tiles engraved with Chinese symbols and pictures are used instead of cards. P. 423

12. Inference • Why is Daisy reluctant to take the book and refuses the extra peaches and watermelon? • She knows that she can’t carry them all and walk home?

13. Character • What is your first impression of Hoke? • He is competent, experienced and resourceful, he speaks in an honest, straightforward manner, he is an independent thinker.

14. Review • What is the meaning of Hoke’s story. Why does he talk about wrestling hogs at this moment? • He is indirectly comparing Daisy to a stubborn hog. Even if she resists him, he will persist in trying to get her to cooperate.

15. Inference • Why do you think Daisy is so strongly against having a chauffeur? • She says he’ll eat all her food and run up her phone bill. If Daisy were really worried about Hoke’s eating or phone habits, she would jusxt lay down the law to him and make sure her rules were followed. There must be another reason.

16. Inference • Daisy wants to be independent. Maybe Daisy resists a chauffeur because she doesn’t want to admit she can’t be totally independent any more. She doesn’t want to see herself as a helpless old woman who must depend on others.

17. Character • What does Hoke’s response to Daisy reveal about his character? • He is sort of like Daisy—she won’t talk about some thins and he won’t either; Hoke can be very friendly but also knows when to keep his mouth shut; he has a strong sense of dignity.

18. Character • What does Daisy’s insistence on taking Highland Avenue show about her? • She is a creature of habit; she does not wish to change her ways so late in life; she will assert her will in small details since she has made the “major” concession” of letting Hoke drive.

19. Review • Look at the stage directions. How much time has passed? How do you know? • About two months. The story opens in August 1948, and it is now autumn.

20. Review • How does Hoke’s idea about wealth contrast with Daisy’s? P. 433 Use your Venn diagram to complete this question.

21. Review How does Hoke’s idea about wealth contrast with Daisy’s? She says it is vulgar to display Wealth and she does Not want to admit that she is rich He would be proud of being rich

22. Evaluate • To whom is Daisy referring when she says “they all take things?” • Does Daisy’s statement reflect prejudice? If yes, why? P. 433

23. Historical Sidelight • Literacy was even more wide spread n the era of the play than it is today. The inability to read may have been the result of bad schools or a need to drop out of school in order to work. African Americans were often prevented from learning to read by poverty, segregation, and the unavailability of public schools.

24. End of part one • Daisy often reacts to situations with anger and impatience. Why do you think she does this?

25. End of Part one • Daisy often reacts to situations with anger and impatience. Why do you think she does this? • She resents having to rely on someone else to get around. She resents her loss of privacy and independence, and the constant threat of changes in her routine. She maintains her authority by getting angry She.

26. End of part one • What is your opinion of how Hoke handles Miss Daisy?

27. End of part one • What is your opinion of how Hoke handles Miss Daisy? • Hoke deals with Daisy’s antagonistic attitude with skill, patience, and understanding. Hoke has more patience with Daisy than Boolie expects; he lets Daisy insult him too much and allows her to act out her prejudice.

28. End of part one • How would you describe Daisy’s attitude toward Hoke in the first part of the play?

29. End of Part One • How would you describe Daisy’s attitude toward Hoke in the first part of the play? • Daisy is annoyed and short-tempered with Hoke and is rude to him; Daisy at first distrusts Hoke but later softens her attitude toward him and allows him to help her

30. End of Part One • Why do you think Daisy and Hoke have different attitudes about Daisy being rich?

31. End of Part One • Why do you think Daisy and Hoke have different attitudes about Daisy being rich? • Daisy sees her wealth in contrast with her youthful poverty, whereas Hoke cannot imagine getting past his own poverty. Daisy is still insecure about her wealth while Hoke is realistic about it.

32. Driving Miss Daisy Part 2

33. Review of Part I Driving Miss Dais

34. Review • Using your Venn Diagram, find Similarities between the way that Florine speaks to Boolie and the way that Daisy speaks to Boolie.

35. Review • Find Similarities between the way that Florine speaks to Boolie and the way that Daisy speaks to Boolie. • Both demand his attention • Both speak to him in a bossy way

36. Conflict • Describe the conflict between Boolie and Florine. • Florine is jealous of Daisy • Boolie doesn’t like Florine making critical remarks about his mother • Florine can tell that Daisy doesn’t like her, so she takes it out on Boolie.

37. Active Reading • What does Daisy mean by her comment, “If I had a nose like Florine’s I wouldn’t go around saying, ‘Merry Christmas?’” P. 437

38. Active Reading • What does Daisy mean by her comment, “If I had a nose like Florine’s I wouldn’t go around saying, ‘Merry Christmas?’” • She is making reference to an old stereotype about Jews having big noses. Daisy means that Florine looks and is Jewish and should not be celebrating a Christian holiday.

39. Active Reading • Do you remember a previous time when Hoke made a similar comment to: “Dat for him and me to know?” P. 438

40. Active Reading • Do you remember a previous time when Hoke made a similar comment to: “Dat for him and me to know?” • He said it to Daisy when she asks how much Boolie is paying him.

41. Active Reading • What can you infer from the stage directions: “Daisy’s Kitchen, June 1957. Idella, in her eighties and looking worn, is taking fried chicken out of a skillet. Daisy enters. • Two years have passed since the last scene. We know that Daisy is also in her eighties since she and Idella are the same age.

42. Cultural Sidelight • The musical My Fair Lady opened in New York on Broadway in March 1956. As with many hit Broadway shows, people had to order tickets many months ahead of time. Since the time in the play is now June 1957, My Fair Lady has been running for fifteen months in New York.

43. Cultural Sidelight • A Pullman Porter is a railroad car with small private rooms. A porter is a railraod employee who takes care of passengers on the train. For many years, most Pullman porters were African American.

44. Evaluate • The trooper is insulting both Hoke and Daisy by calling them derogatory names based on their race and religion. How did that make you feel when you read those lines? • Why do you think the author included those lines? • What is your impression of the trooper when he says these words?

45. Pejorative Term • The word “boy” is a derogatory term when used by white people to refer to an African American male. It implies a superior and intimidating attitude on the part of the speaker.

46. Active Reading • Why do you think Daisy nods gratefully at Hoke? P. 442

47. Active Reading • Why do you think Daisy nods gratefully at Hoke? • Daisy and Hoke shared a scary trip together • Because he got her there safely • Because he too is part of her family

48. Character • What does Hoke’s conversation with Boolie indicate about Hoke’s character? • He has cleverly engineered this conversation to get himself a raise • Just as he has become assertive with Daisy, he is also more assertive with Boolie • He is unafraid to ask for what he feels he deserves • He knows how to negotiate.

49. Infer • “A BAPTIST CHURCH. The congregation is black, except for Daisy, Boolie, and Florine, who sit at the rear.” • What has happened in this scene? • Idella has died. • Daisy’s family and Hoke are attending her funeral.

50. Active Reading • Why is Daisy surprised to see Hoke? • The weather is bad.